mardi 20 décembre 2011

Last week I discovered that I can refill my black Pentel brush with a big bottle of black ink, which is crazily less expensive than the Pentel cartridges. To celebrate that, I did a bunch of pirates, arrrr ! (and I'm always experimenting watercolor textures in photoshop)

lundi 5 décembre 2011

I'm actually doing old movies posters. Here's the first one : 'The hills have eyes' by Wes Craven. I'm of course speaking of the 1977 version of the movie (They made a remake in 2005, or something like that).

Also here is a little doodle I did for friend, fan of the movie. It's one of the bad guy in the movie : Pluto (performed by Michael Berryman. Such a cool face he has ! ). It's watercolor on smooth paper.

vendredi 4 novembre 2011

It's been a while since I want to draw a character from 'A Song of Ice and Fire', by Georges RR Martin. It was hard to get rid of the image of Peter Dinklage, who is great in the TV show, so I tried to get close to my first impression of the character I had in the books. But well, the result is very close to Mr Dinklage... I will try to be more original with the other Lannisters. Yeah, because I want to draw the whole family now !

I wanted to draw Tyrion in battle suit. I don't know why, but I was influenced by the Blackwater Battle. My first idea was to draw him when he's wounded, but I decided to save the dynamic scene for his elder brother. So finally, I decided to draw Tyrion before the battle, in his tent, finishing to suit him up.

So Here are some compo thumbs. I choose the middle one, more easy to catch the whole bunch of details ( the helmet, the wine and books, the girl).

Some colored thumbs, pretty similars. The final is a mix of the 2 last ones.

mardi 1 novembre 2011

So I continue with some work on lights and colors with outdoor paintings (a bit of acrylic, a lot of watercolors). Weather is getting a bit cold because as Ned used to say, 'Winter is coming', but painting outside is a very good training to improve your composition/light/colors/movement/anatomy skills. And because you're not playing at home, it's very challenging (and more fun when you go paint with friends). So here are my little paintings, from old to recent, I mostly did in Paris streets, Montmartre and Chaumont parks.

dimanche 23 octobre 2011

I'm reading again the Harry Potter books, and I wanted to draw a little fanart. Here was my process :

1- color pencil sketch first (Here it's in grey tones). I wanted to have the three main characters in their first year school, with a focus on Harry. So the composition is very simple but I think it works.

2- Little color sketches. This step is very important, it's like a battle plan for me. I'm always comparing the illustration I'm working on to those thumbs. At this step, I'm picking the mood I want and the lights/shades.

My first idea about the main mood of this illustration is quite close to the one I chose for my final illustration. I wanted a lot of red, with warm yellow/orange lights, as a reminder of the Gryffindor house which is represented by yellow and red. But I also tried other moods. It's always interesting, you can find new paths and new moods, and it can comforts you in your choice. I picked the 2nd thumb.

3- Grey tones sketch. Here I'm working on the lights again, and on the shapes, but I'm going deeper in the idea I want. Also, this sketch is coming just before the final step, so I'm adding more details on the characters. When I'm ready, I'm painting over this sketch.

4- And the final step : The colors and details.

This the serious step, adding colors and details, adding textures and effects, and so on. I'm also retaking things, like the hand of Ron which was too big on the sketch, or the head of Hermione too small. This is the longest step, I think you know why =)

jeudi 20 octobre 2011

Last weekend I was in a 2 days masterclass with the awesome, the fantastic, the brilliant Dice Tsutsumi ! ( You have to check his amazing work here : www.simplestroke.com ) So of course, it was very interesting, very refreshing, and worked like a kick in the ass on me. Also, here is my new hobby : working on composition, lights and simple values. They are my kryptonite, but also the key to do better stuff !

mardi 18 octobre 2011

Oh Hi everyone, this is my new blog. Maybe you come from the first one, which I gave up a bit, so sorry for that. BUT if you came here it's because maybe you're interested in what I draw, so thank you for that !

Things are gonna change with this new blog : There will be more sketches and roughs and researches, maybe some photographies, and less finished illustration. Now that I have my own personal website, finished works will go on it ! The new blog will, I think, be a bit more personal and more interesting. For me it's like a new start, so I'm a bit excited.

So let's go for the new adventure, and let's start with a ginkgo leaf !

Ahoi !

Welcome, stranger. Please, have a sit.

I'm Antoine P. a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, but you can call me Mr Mouw.This is only my blog, where you can find everything and nothing. If you want to see finished illustrations, you can go on www.norechrop.com.